Our monthly selection of carefully selected topics and articles on the environment and climate crisis, in partnership with Display Europe. This month’s topics include air pollution, olive oil shortages, green bonds financing fossil fuels, vulnerability to disasters and climate activism.
Dear readers, I have curated a selection of the most compelling insights and investigations from across Europe, published in the past couple of months.
To start, I have chosen three stories about injustice.
This is supposed to be a very special time of the year, made of new beginnings, pumpkin spice lattes, and all. I realise these articles don’t seem to give away much hope, but take them as the objects that can help you orient yourself while being in the darkness. There’s this quote I love, from Virginia Woolf’s journal, written in 1915: “The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.” So, Autumn is also a time to go back to work on what the environment and climate need from us.
I hope the following stories will make you feel seen, or touched (whatever you prefer), a bit angry (you know, in a valuable way), and most of all informed. Enjoy reading them, and if you wish let me know what you think. Until the next episode!
Outstanding stories
Almost everyone in Europe is breathing bad air
This investigation unveiled a severe public health crisis in Europe as nearly everyone, or 98%, lives in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution, exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Data from over 1,400 ground monitoring stations and satellite images revealed that nearly two-thirds of the population resides in areas where air pollution is twice the WHO’s standards. Eastern Europe, except for Italy, experiences significantly worse air quality than western Europe. Traffic, industry, domestic heating, and agriculture are the primary pollution sources, disproportionately affecting the poorest communities. Deutsche Welle‘s Rodrigo Menegat Schuinski and Pamela Duncan first reported the story, realised with EDJNet and then picked up by various media all across Europe, including Le Soir (Belgium), H-Alter (Croatia), Panorama (Albania), El Confidencial (Spain), Wydarzenia (Poland) and Seznam Zpravy (Czech Republic). The Guardian‘s interactive map highlights the continent’s worst-affected regions.
Morocco, Libya, Greece: “The more unequal the society, the more deadly the disaster”
Investments in common goods, wealth distribution, and power dynamics significantly impact a population’s vulnerability to natural disasters. Jean-Paul Vanderlinden, an ecological economics professor at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, underscores this connection to Reporterre’s Alexandre-Reza Kokabi. Disasters like Libya and Greece’s storm Daniel and Morocco’s earthquake are deadly due to three key factors. Firstly, rare events or “hazards,” like intense storms or earthquakes, trigger these disasters. Secondly, the exposure of populations to these events, determined by their proximity and susceptibility to risk, plays a crucial role. Lastly, varying individual vulnerability levels, influenced by factors such as health, age, and personal resilience, increase casualty risks.
Vulnerability stems from a combination of individual and collective elements. While individual factors matter, collective ones, like access to healthcare, education, and economic stability, hold greater significance. Strong societal systems reduce vulnerability, whereas regions marked by inequality, instability, and weak institutions see vulnerability rise. Political readiness and collective organisation become essential for disaster resilience. To reduce vulnerability, policies should prioritise wealth and power distribution and invest in common goods, fostering inclusive governance.
How “green” investments are financing Big Carbon
Finally, a bit of self-promotion for Voxeurop, in case you missed this one: Giorgio Michalopoulos and Stefano Valentino spent several months investigating how European financial institutions promote “green” investments for environmental sustainability, while supporting fossil fuel companies at the same time. For instance, Eurizon, affiliated with Italy’s largest bank, Banca Intesa, invested over $208 million in hydrocarbon companies within its “sustainable and responsible” funds. Fossil fuel firms in Italy and France have reaped nearly €7 billion from green funds, exploiting vague criteria for defining “green” investments, despite not meeting genuine sustainability goals.
European regulations lack clear definitions for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria, permitting arbitrary categorization as “light green” or “dark green.” Many “dark green” funds don’t adhere to stringent standards. The European Commission’s focus on disclosure over standards has allowed fund managers to manipulate classifications. Investors must ensure their investments align with sustainability goals. The UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) emphasise individual responsibility rather than regulatory oversight. This regulatory ambiguity in Europe raises concerns about the credibility of green investments and financial sector transparency. Due diligence falls largely on investors, making it difficult to identify genuinely sustainable investments.
This investigation has won the Lorenzo Natali Europe Media Prize 2023, which was awarded on 11 October in Brussels.
More picks
Italian Oil Giant Eni Knew About Climate Change More Than 50 Years Ago, Report Reveals
Stella Levantesi and Benjamin Franta | DeSmog | 24 September | EN
According to a report by Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon, Italian oil company Eni was aware of climate risks tied to fossil fuel extraction since 1970. This revelation comes amid a lawsuit against Eni by the two organisations, accusing the company of greenwashing and lobbying to advance oil and gas production while knowing about the fossil fuel hazards for over five decades. The report cites Eni’s own research centre and subsidiary documents from the 1970s that warned of catastrophic climate risks from carbon dioxide emissions. Eni’s 1978 report even projected rising atmospheric CO2 levels by the turn of the 21st century.
Greece’s map for predicting wildfires is anachronistic and inadequate
Kostas Zafeiropoulos | MIIR | 4 August | EN
Greece’s July 2023 forest fires, which destroyed 470,000 acres in 13 days, underscored the inadequacy of the country’s response to extreme weather events. A survey revealed that a mere 16.05% of public funds for fire protection focused on prevention, with 83.95% allocated to suppression. One cause may be found in Greece’s daily fire-risk forecast map, produced by the Civil Protection, which lacks transparency and relies on intuition rather than scientific data.
Europe’s olive oil supply running out after drought – and the odd hailstorm
Sarah Butler, Sam Jones and Helena Smith | The Guardian | 28 September
Europe confronts a second consecutive year of olive oil shortage as extreme weather damages harvests, with global production expected to plummet to 2.4 million tonnes, falling short of the 3 million-tonne demand. Spain, the largest producer, has been impacted, resorting to imports from South America. Italy, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, and Morocco also face production declines due to heatwaves and drought. The climate crisis is exacerbating the situation, bringing more extreme weather events to the Mediterranean, affecting water resources and olive cultivation, indicating a potential long-term challenge for the industry in the region.
Polluted water: Coal company pays hush money
Annika Joeres, Elena Kolb, Katarina Huth | CORRECTIV | 23 September | DE
Frankfurt an der Oder’s Mayor René Wilke is prohibited from discussing how mining threatens the city’s drinking water due to a settlement with coal giant Leag. The confidential agreement also restricts the city and its water association from raising complaints against the adverse effects of mining on their region’s water quality. Despite rising sulphate levels due to mining activities in Brandenburg, affected cities and water associations are entering into these non-disclosure agreements in exchange for financial compensation. Experts criticise such deals, highlighting the potential long-term consequences and the lack of public discourse about mining’s impact on drinking water.
Young climate activists are finally becoming a powerful voting bloc
Angelo Romano | Valigia Blu | 29 September | IT
Over 70,000 climate activists rallied in New York during the United Nations General Assembly and “Climate Ambition Summit.” They urged US president Joe Biden to halt new fossil fuel projects, supported by over 700 global climate organisations. Protests continued, leading to over 100 arrests just in New York, and spread globally. Legal action also gained traction, with young activists suing countries over inadequate climate policies. Romano makes a good point here: after the pandemic, climate activism is seeing a significant resurgence, and young people will at some point take over the world.
Environmentalists celebrate that the Prosecutor’s Office no longer includes the term “radical environmentalism” in the “terrorism” section
EFE, Público | 25 September | ES
Good news is in, too. Spain’s Attorney General’s Office did not categorise terms like “radical environmentalism” (referring to groups like Extinction Rebellion and Futuro Vegetal, known for climate crisis actions in museums) under “terrorism,” as it had done in its 2022 report. NGOs jointly celebrated this response in a statement, appreciating the stance against the “criminalisation” and “discrediting” of climate activists. What’s more, the Attorney General conveyed to the environmentalists that they “share and endorse their statement about the necessity of environmental activism to advance essential environmental protection in the broadest sense.”
